Manny and Joce have some special announcements to kick off this week, as well as a lot of talk about their experience in the Alpha/Beta/Test That Shall Not Be Named! All that and more on this week’s For Azeroth!

We have a very special announcement this week! As of today, For Azeroth! is joining the wonderful group of content creators at Warcraft Radio! Warcraft Radio is Azeroth’s FIRST live stream, bringing content, updates, and entertainment to casual and hardcore fans alike. Many of the Warcraft Radio content creators have been a part of the Warcraft Community since the network originated in 2004, and their dedication to the community has never waned. They are very passionate about Warcraft, and there is a little something for everyone on the network. If you haven’t checked them out before, make sure you swing by and give a listen to the other fabulous Warcraft shows like YOU THINK YOU DO BUT YOU DON’T, Technically PvP, and Girls Gone WoW among many others!

You can find Warcraft Radio on Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as Discord. All these links will be in our show notes which for this week will still be in their usual place at tgistudios.com/faz

What it means for us

  • So much support in terms of not only a network of other creators to bounce ideas off of, but AV support, marketing, you name it. All the little polishes that Manny and I were limping through teaching ourselves, now we don’t have to!
  • More access! Warcraft Radio has been around for a long time, so they’ve got the contacts and the ins! 
  • A wider community! We will be hanging on to our little slice of paradise that is the FAZ discord, but you can also join the larger Warcraft Radio community through Discord, Facebook, or Reddit.

What it means for you

  • Better quality content
  • A fixed publishing schedule
  • Hopefully you didn’t even notice the RSS switchover, though if you did you wouldn’t be hearing me right now so….

The Beta Looms

Yesterday the Shadowlands Developer Update unleashed a wealth of information about elements coming to test.

  • Shadowlands confirmed this fall.
  • The Shadowlands Physical Collector’s Edition
    • full-color art book
    • covenant pin set
    • Soundtrack
    • mousepad
  • Shadowlands beta NEXT WEEK
  • You will be able to level to 60 in beta and test endgame.
  • Large invite waves coming with beta as well as additional invites over the summer.
  • Players choose a covenant at max level to unlock the new endgame systems.
    • Soulbinds 
      • Talent trees a la artifact weapons with empty slots for Conduits.
      • Conduits are like relics in Legion. Spec specific and drop from all content. Divided into utility, defensive, and throughput.
      • Soul binds can easily be switched out.
    • Players gain renown with Covenants to unlock new features, and rewards. 
    • Anima collection is not an open-ended grind. There are catch ups for it set up from day 1.
  • Covenant Sanctum are much like the Legion class halls. 
    • Each has upgrades to unlock (repair.)
    • Each has a themed transportation network for their respective zones.
    • Wards can be activated to restore the flow on anima in the zone. These will activate quests and activities in the zone. When activated permanently, wards will physically change parts of the zone.
    • Unique activities for each covenant:
      • Venthyr – Ember Court. You will have a self-contained mini game to seek out guests and set up a party, play through it in real time, and maximize the happiness of your guests for rewards.
      • Kyrian – Path of Ascension. You inhabit the consciousness of one of your soul binds and take on trials to recruit powerful allies. It is focused on combat.
      • Necrolords – Abomination Factory. You can build fleshwork creatures to be the perfect housing for a soul in need of a physical form. You can adventure with each of these unique souls out in the world.
      • Night Fae – Queen’s Conservatory. You will tend to a soul garden, similar to the farm in Pandaria. You will nurture souls back to life.
    • Covenant Campaign testing will be available soon as well. Each covenant has a unique campaign with its own rewards.
  • The mission table returns as “Adventures.” Luckily these are not required content but an additional path for storytelling and offline progression. 
    • Far more interactive gameplay: turn based, form parties with your soul binds, level them up.
    • Supported on the mobile app.
  • The Theater of Pain Dungeon is available. It takes place during an important battle royale event. It is a non-linear dungeon with different choices to progress.
  • Torghast will be completely ungated and have no currency system to run it.
    • You will find a runesmith jailed in the bowels of Tor’ghast. This smith wields the power to forge items similar in power to the Helm of Domination or Frostmourne. They will make the legendary slot of your choice with enough currency earned through Tor’ghast.
    • A lot of the legendary abilities are influenced by old set bonuses or legendaries that were popular.
  • Maw outdoor zone:
    • There will be a lot of discover-able gameplay in the Maw. You won’t just be able to bring up the map and see world quests. Everything you do is under the eyes of the Jailer and you are not welcome here. Eventually you will have to retreat after gaining too much ire of the Jailer.
    • Early on in our adventures in the Maw will find Vinari, one of the only souls in the Maw that doesn’t want to kill us. She will improve our experience in the Maw and help us with Tor’ghast.
  • Upcoming testing:
    • Castle Nathria raid testing later this month.
    • Shadowlands Mythic+ testing later this month.
    • The new seasonal affix later this month.
    • Tuning is the last thing that the team does during beta.
    • There will be focused PvP testing soon™  
    • Pacing of character progression. Characters will probably be wiped at the end of the month.

Links